The Ringing of Barnacle Geese in Greenland in 1961
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The ringing of Barnacle Geese in Greenland in 1961 R. Marris & M. A. Ogilvie Summary A s m a l l expedition spent July and August 1961 in Jameson Land, East Greenland. The main object was the ringing of Barnacle Geese. 450 adult and 119 young Barnacle Geese were ringed, and a further 40 birds, previously ringed in the same area in 1955, were recaught. Six Pink-footed Geese were also marked. The last geese were ringed on 4th August and, though more geese were seen, including many Pinkfeet, their moult was over and none were caught. The equipment and techniques used, including coloured neck bands, are briefly described. The birds caught were sexed and weighed. Estimates were made of the total numbers of the two species of geese in the areas visited and suggestions are put forward concerning the distribution of breeding and non-breeding birds between the two major valleys. Breeding success was very poor, except in Enjörningens Dal and Fleming Dal, where fewer predators were seen than elsewhere. Notes on the status and breeding of other birds are given. A film record and a collection of plants were made. Introduction In the summer of 1955 a Cambridge expedition ringed 299 Barnacle Geese Branta leucopsis and 11 Pink-footed Geese Anser brachyrhynchus in Jameson Land, central east Greenland. A return to the area was planned for Í958, with the approval of the Greenland Department of the Danish Govern ment. As a result of a kind offer by the Norsk Polarinstitutt in Oslo, stores and some equipment were carried on the M.S. Polarbj0rn (which later foundered in the coastal ice) to the Norwegian hunting station at Antarctic Havn early in August, 1957. Stores were sent in advance so that a party could travel on foot to the ringing areas from Mesters Vig airstrip, near Noret, early in July, when the geese become flightless. Early arrival is essential and cannot be achieved by sea because polar pack ice delays the arrival of ships and winter ice prevents the use of small boats in the fjords. The 1958 programme had to be postponed because transport by air for the members could not be obtained. In 1961 another expedition was assembled and space was bought on aircraft chartered by a Leicester University expedi tion, the Junior Mountaineering Club of Scotland expedition and Nordisk Mineselskab A/S. The primary aim of the 1961 Cambridge East Greenland Expedition was to catch and ring Barnacle Geese and to estimate the size of the local population and its breeding success. Supplementary objectives were observa tions on, and the capture of, Pink-footed Geese, observations on other bird and animal life, and the collection of plants. The 1961 Expedition consisted of Dr. R. Marris (leader), G. C. G. Argent, A. B. Hall, A. H. F. Webbe (8th to 26th July only), D. Marris (26th July to 14th August only) and M. A. Ogilvie. R. Marris had been a member of the previous expedition to the same area in 1955. G. Argent and R. Marris made a collection of botanical specimens, now in the British Museum (Natural History). Lists of species of flowering plants and mosses are being prepared for the Greenland Department, for study in Denmark. A 16 mm. colour ciné-film record was made of the habitats, the catching technique and the marking methods. It includes close-up shots of a herd of Musk-oxen Ovibos moschatus. A. B. Hall has prepared a special report on observations of the Musk-ox in Jameson Land. 54 The Wildfowl Trust Five members of the expedition flew from Reykjavik, in Iceland, to the Mesters Vig airstrip on 8th July. After initial double back packing from Mesters Vig to Antarctic Havn, Flexurdal and Henrik M0llers Dal, goose- catching drives were made in the vast expanse of lower 0rsteds-Dal between 16th and 20th July. From 21st to 27th preparations for the next phase were made. While A. H. F. Webbe, en route for Mesters Vig and Iceland, returned to Antarctic Havn with Malcolm Ogilvie, the others took stores to the shore of inner Fleming Fjord below Rhætelv. The arrival of David Marris on 25th July was delayed a day by fog at the airfield. Four of us returned with additional stores and, after moving up 0rsteds-Dal to the foot of Alldays Dal and a goose-drive further up valley on 29th, we all set out over the pass to the camp in Fleming Fjord. Three successful drives in Enj0rningens Dal and Fleming Dal1 between 31st July and 4th August preceded a long trek through S. W. Jameson Land, via Fegins Elv, Hall Bredning, Schuchert Fl0d and, finally upper 0rsteds-Dal. where we arrived on 12th August. David Marris then returned by way of Horsedal to Noret, leaving for Iceland on 14th. In the final phase G. Argent and R. Marris visited Fleming Dal, Passagen, Carlsberg Fjord, Klit Dal, upper Ryders Elv (Hurry Fjord), and the mountain plateau to the north of Dusens Bjerg and crossed Jameson Land before returning via Hall Bredning to join Hall and Ogilvie, who divided their time between Fleming Fjord and Mesters Vig, to transport gear back to the airstrip. Hall, who had become ill, flew to Iceland on 7th September. The fine ‘ heat-wave ’ weather that lasted from our arrival until the third week in August, with only one short period of a rainy and two overcast days, then began to break up. The last ten days were a mixture of snow storms and fine days. This coincided with the moving of our gear back to the airfield, but we were not seriously hampered, though the upper parts of the Oksedal pass went under a foot of snow overnight. We flew out on 9th September, sharing a plane with the Leicester expedition, Danish staff and tourists from Iceland. Acknowledgements The generous personal help, advice and encouragement of Dr. Finn Salomonsen of the Universitetets Zoologisk Museum, Copenhagen, on behalf of the Greenland Ringing Scheme, has been given since the commencement of our Barnacle research in 1955. All ringing records and subsequent recoveries have passed through his hands. Dr. A. Melderis has given valuable assistance by naming botanical specimens at the British Museum (Natural History) colected in both 1955 and 1961. For other help we are most grateful to the Norsk Polarinstitutt, the Danish staff at Mesters Vig airstrip, Herr V. Brinch of Nordisk Mineselskab A/S, and Messrs. J. Giæver, C. G. M. Slesser and C. H. Liddiard, Drs. S0ren Richter, Lauge Koch, A. L. Washburn and his colleagues, Christian Vibe and nearly sixty people in Iceland and the British Isles who have helped to obtain information of geese ringed in Jameson Land. Although the expedition was organised and financed at the personal expense of its members it could not have been undertaken without the loan ‘It is understood that in a map shortly to be published by the Danish Government, Fleming Dal will be called Pingels Dal. The Norwegian name is retained because it has been used in reporting recoveries of ringed geese. (Ed.). Ringing of Barnacle Geese 55 and donation of some equipment and generous benefactions of a number of business organisations. One of the authors (M.A.O.) is indebted to the Wildfowl Trust for the opportunity to take part. Topography In the mountainous northern part of Jameson Land, movement is restricted to the valleys and the passes connecting them. The mountains are mostly 3-4000 ft. in height and form steep or nearly perpendicular walls to the U-shaped glacial valleys. The valleys where we caught geese were 0rsteds- Dal, and the two valleys leading into the head of Fleming Fjord, Enj0rningens Dal and Fleming (Pingels) Dal. With the exception of Schuchert Fl0d, 0rsteds- Dal is the largest valley of the region, about 30 miles long, and three miles wide in the lower half of its length. This lower part is a flat plain of heather, tundra, bog and sand desert. The braided channels of the river are about half-a-mile wide for the last five miles and pass between sand and shingle banks. When we were there the river was fordable at about waist deep, though there were signs that during the spring thaw most of the valley goes under water. In the heather and tundra there are several pools, the largest about an acre. Around these pools, and on either side of the numerous small tributaries entering the river from the mountain wall, the ground is very boggy, forming quite extensive areas of marsh, much liked by Dunlin and Sanderling as a breeding habitat. Higher up the valley, the river runs in a fairly narrow bed, and the banks are drier and slope towards the foot of the mountain wall. Fleming Dal and Enj0rningens Dal join at the mouth to form a large area very similar to the lower reaches of 0rsteds-Dal, but the valleys narrow quickly as they climb back from the fjord, with the rivers running in steep-sided gorges. The connecting valleys are mostly quite narrow, with steep and very stony floors and little vegetation. The rivers running in these smaller valleys alternate between a gorge and wide shingle outwash plains. The only birds in these barren valleys are the ubiquitous Snow Bunting and a few Ringed Plover. The southern part of Jameson Land is a complete contrast, with low hills and heather-clad ridges undulating gently down to the shores of Hall Inlet. The vegetation on the southward facing slopes is quite luxuriant compared with the bleaker valleys of the north. This area has a relatively warm dry continental type of summer climate with relatively little cloud cover.